Improvement in sewing-machines



,UNITED STATES GEORGE w. MITCHELL, OE Jackson, TENNESSEE. i

IMPROVEMENTIN slawlNe-MAOi-lllu-:stf`f` t PATENT. OFFICE.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 26.366dated December 6,1859..`

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE W. MITCHELL, of Jackson, in the county of Madison and State of Tennesse, have invented certain,` new and useful Improvements in Sewing-Machines5 and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,

simple combination of mechanism for driving' the needle and shuttle or looper, whereby a sewing-machine ismuch simplified.

It also consists in a certain novel andvery simple construction of and mode of applying an elastic presser to confine the cloth or other material to the work-plate or bed of the machine, whereby it is made capable of operating as a feeder without any joints or other fittings; and it further consists in a novel contrivance through which the needle-arm is made to operate upon the presser for the purpose of producing the feed movement.,

To enable others to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A is the wprk-plate or bed of the machine, upon which the cloth or other material is placed to be sewed.

Bis the vibrating needle-arm, attached to a horizontal rock-shaft, C, which is fittedto bearings provided in the bed A.

a is a curved eye-pointed needle, of the usual kind, attached to the vibrating arm B in the usual or any well-known manner.

D is the shuttle, fitted to a driver and carrier, E, of well-known construction, which is at-` tached rigidly to the upper end of a vibrating lever, E', carried by a horizontal rock-shaft, F, that is arranged parallel with the plane of vibration of the needle-arm in a bearing in a hanger, G, below the bed A. This lever E has a slot, b, provided in it to receive the end of an arm, I-I, that is attached to the needle-arm rock-shaftC, and forms a portion of the4 same lever as the needle-arm, and the said arm H,

working below the bed,`has provided init a slot, c, which receives the wristd of a crank, I

that is carried bythe horizontal main shaft J, said shaft working in a bearing in the hanger G. y

The revolution of the `crank-wrist in the slotc produces a vibratory motion ofthe arm H,and so gives the necessary motion `to the needle rock-shaft C, the needlearm B, and the needle; y i and the end of the said arm H, working inthe t slot b ofthe shuttle-carrier` lever E, produces `the necessary movement ofthe shuttle-carrier and shuttle, and the lower .part of theslot Zi having a proper curvature, as represented in Fig. 2 of the drawings, the movement of `the shuttle is properly timedl in relation to the` movement ofthe needle; This mode of driving the needle and shuttle, `it is obvious, may be used in machines which employ an under nee# v dle or loop er in place of a shuttle, the needle or I ,e

looper being attached to the leverE in the place occupied bythe shuttle-.carrier E. 1`

K is the presser or footfby which the linate" x rial is held down upon the bed while being sewed, and by which it is moved tomake the 1 stitches, having a serrated face to enable it to y f. serve as a feeder. `This presser is made in the e same piece with a bent arm, L, which is bolted i firmly to the bed-plate` nearthewneedle rock#` shaft by a bolt, e. This farmiL is made thin "n enough and sufficiently elastieat f to :permit 1 the presser to move in thedirection indicated f by an arrow in Fig: 2, in which it is,` desired to` feed the material, and in the oppositedirectien;` y e and it is also madethin enough andst nciently, e g elastic at g, Fig. l, to permit thepres'serto be y raised up from the bed to l placethe `material in or remove it from the machine, but yet must` 1 be stiff enough to hold the cloth rmlyupon 3 the bed when it is left` free.` That portion "of thel arm L below the party, where elasticityisy 3 provided, and some distance above the footK; is made to present an inclined plane toward* the needle-arm, as shown at` t', Fig. 1, and thex needle-arm is fitted witha collar, M, which, U as the needle-arm descends to drive the needle;` ,i I through the material,operates` like awedge` `1 f f f against this inclined plane, `and so moves the,`

portion of the arm below f and the foot `K in j "the contrary direction to; that in which they` cloth isto be fed. yThen the needle-bar rises 1I e again and the needle isdrawn out of the cloth, l

the collar leaves the arm Kzand foot-piece free,

and they are moved `backfagain` by the clase j 1 ticit'y of the arm, thus giving `motion `to the cloth. rIhe serrated face of the presser, it may be proper to state, has its teeth so set as to facilitate the passage of the presser over the surface When the arm is moved by the collar M, but as to bite the cloth in moving the otherway. To provide for varying the feed movement to make stitches of different lengths, at the pleasure of the operator, the collar M is made of polygonal form, as shown in Fig. 3, and the hole which is drilled through it, to t the needle-arm B, is madev eccentric to a circle circumscribing the polygon, so that the sides of the said collar project dicrent distances from the needle-arm. The collar is fitted to turn easily upon the needle-arm to present either side toward the latter, and, according as a more or less projecting side of the collar is .turned toward the arm L, the movement of the said arm is greater or less and a longer or shorter stitch is produced.

By combining in the same machine my improved mode of driving a needle and shuttle and my improved mode of applying the presser broadly7 effecting the-feed movement by the action of an appendage of the needle-bar upon the presser; but

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is?

1. Thevcombination of the crank I on the driving-shaft, the slotted arm II, forming a .portion of the same lever with the needle-arm,

and so extended as to operate the lever E', and the lever E', carrying the shuttle or looper, the Whole arranged and operating, substantially as herein described, to drive the needle and shuttle.

Y 2. The vertically and horizontally elastic arm L, having the presser attached and constructed and applied, substantially as herein G. W. MITCHELL.

Witnesses: Y

MICH. HUGHES, Uns. M. HUGHES. 

